Sel8nne Page #8

---

I was in a wheelchair for 3 1/2 months.

I had nightmares and woke

up sweating long afterwards.

Everything was my fault.

I drove, it was my responsibility.

After that, I didn't want

to go rallying again.

One day when I was a rookie

I went to our physiotherapist.

I said I was in little pain

and asked what we should do.

He was having a bad day.

He had already received a couple of guys -

complaining about their problems.

He was annoyed and took me

a little farther away. He said:

"F***ing rookie -

First thing you have to learn in this

league is playing with the pain!"

I was like this...

I once took a puck here

and it broke in three places.

I still have three metal plates.

Here I got a fracture.

It was hit by a slap shot.

I broke the tibia and fibula

simultaneously.

Once I tore my Achilles tendon.

Here I had two fractures.

My left knee has been operated

on six or seven times.

The first thing I'll do

after quitting playing -

is having a knee surgery.

I'll get a prosthesis.

The tibia will be sort of cut off -

and this turned

ten degrees outside.

The bones will be aligned again.

Tennis and golf are so important to me-

that if I can't do them

I'll lose a part of me.

If I had had to quit after

the year in Colorado -

I would probably be a little bitter.

I was a free agent again.

I was considering

my options, staying in San Jose -

or moving to

a new address.

Paul Kariya phoned me.

His contract had also ended.

He had some quarrel

with Anaheim -

and he definitely wanted

to leave Ducks.

We ended up in Colorado.

Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg

were there.

Rob Blake and the rest of the gang.

Expectations were sky-high.

People congratulated us for

getting the Cup in advance.

Paul and Teemu found themselves -

unrestricted.

It will be a long year.

- Yes.

Two players came here together.

When the initiative did not come from the team -

some people didn't like the idea.

They had barely welcomed us

-

when they reminded us of

that we had not won anything yet.

Things started fine.

We played five games really well.

Then Paul got a wrist fracture.

He was gone for four months.

Then something happened with the coach.

Although we never quarreled -

I was placed on the third line.

I wondered what was going on.

Sometimes I played

on the fourth line.

Sometimes I played great

and was the 1st star of the night -

even though I was on the third line.

At the next training

I ended up on the fourth line.

Around Christmas Sakic said-

it was incredible and that

he would have left already.

Teemu called me

after an away game and said,

"My knee is in such shape

that if I were a race horse -

I would be sausages already."

That was my only

bad season.

Media had not had the chance

to write something negative -

about my career or my game before it.

A journalist wrote

I'm like cancer -

causing

bad atmosphere in the team.

I wrote a

comment in the newspaper -

that after the NHL season -

first time

during Teemu's career -

it's not certain if he would be chosen

to the World Championships team.

I listed Colorado's problems.

I had a source on the inside.

Teemu denies everything even today.

If they're printing the truth

then it's okay.

You must live with it.

Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg

sitting on a bus -

heading to the airport.

Teemu,

who had played eight minutes -

delayed the whole team.

Such trifles.

I have never understood

why people go so overboard.

He was pissed.

I did not know that such a

nice man could be so angry.

But he had the balls

enough to talk to me.

I told straight up what I thought.

We met at SM-liiga's gala,

in the toilet.

I had forgotten the whole thing,

but Teemu hadn't.

Later he apologized.

He said it was

one of his biggest mistakes.

I accepted his apology.

If you piss off a star -

you don't get

even the nice stories.

There is a song about

not wanting to replace a single day.

I wanted to replace

the whole year.

Will Mattias Norstrom get a penalty?

Or will it be Selanne?

Selanne, for interference.

Incredible!

The WC in Finland in 2003 was probably

the hardest tournament for Teemu.

I have never played in another game

that turned around so fast.

Niinimaa's pass in front

of the net!

I have never

experienced anything similar.

It felt like a...

... Earthquake,

the entire arena rocked.

We were leading 5 to 1.

Then something happened.

I don't know what.

Norstrom shoots.

Does it bounce in? Yes, it does!

It felt like you could hear

if someone whispered on the top row.

The fans panicked

when it was 5 to 4.

The crowd went silent.

Some players simply gave up.

Sweden were lucky as usual.

He sails completely freely around the goal.

Incredible!

It became 6 to 5.

Then we were goners.

It was horrible.

Sweden win

after an incredible game.

Finns on the bench look pale.

When the game was over -

I was out of the arena

in two minutes.

Selanne scored the 5th goal for Finland.

Is it never Teemu's time to win?

SELNNE AND KURRI'S AGEN DON BAIZLEY HAS DIED

I met Don during Christmas

and at the beginning of the season -

and he seemed to be well.

He was positive as always.

He didn't want

the doctors to tell -

what kind of chances he had.

He would fight as long as he could.

He was a caring man.

He was never greedy.

He knew me fairly well

even before I played in the NHL.

When I started getting salary

he always said:

"Save the money. Don't buy the cars."

When I bought a car

I kept it a secret.

If he had asked

I would had confessed.

His positive attitude

and joy were unbelievable.

He was an example to us all.

The World Cup was played

before the lockout.

I didn't want to play there, because

I couldn't play at my own level.

But it was nice.

We got silver

and came close to winning.

After the World Cup I had a knee operation

and I decided -

that if the knee won't be as good

as it was at its best -

I won't play a single game.

Don Baizley said that

Teemu's career was at stake.

There was talk in the teams -

that he can't play

in the NHL anymore.

It was a challenge

as we so nicely say nowadays.

An injury is the worst way

to end a sporting career.

Both menisci were torn.

The knees were very badly worn.

The patella was in wrong position.

We had to a complete renovation.

A year of rehabilitation.

Ismo, my surgeon,

gave my knee two years.

He said I could play

for two more years.

That was eight years ago.

The surgery gave me

in some ways a new career.

Has the knee been stiff?

- A little.

This will sting a bit.

Is Ismo the only one

giving you these shots?

Team doctors also do it.

It took 1 1/2 years before

the knee worked painlessly.

That happened one day.

It was incredible.

I did not hurt anywhere.

I knew that everything would be fine.

My agent phoned Brian Burke, who

was the general manager at the time -

and said Teemu

wants to come back to Anaheim.

He asked if it was possible.

Burke said the team can't afford me.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes